9/11—15 years later. What has transpired? What has changed? What is next?
For those of us who have been fully engaged in preparedness efforts over the past 15 years, the landscape has been a kaleidoscope of tragic events, great human accomplishments, and equally great failures. In so many ways there has certainly been a great amount of change but in so many ways things remain frozen in time. This latter observation applies in particular to the continued seeming inability to better integrate the efforts of the many different health professions and disciplines to support programs and policies that support the best interests of the public as opposed to those of individual entities.
Overcoming this domain-centric inertia remains the primary objective of our journal and society and one that we will continue to pursue as best we can. This will require growing our membership and we will be reaching out to form a strategic “think tank” on better ways to achieve success. The need for this was underscored by our experiences with our recent annual meeting which took place in July in Rockville, Maryland. Program-wise, those in attendance overwhelmingly agreed as to its quality and import; however, from a resource perspective we fell far short from covering our expenditures. We must and can do better but we need to explore different, and hopefully better, ways to accomplish this. One of the most important requirements is to plan earlier and better and we will be starting that process shortly.
Most importantly to me is that on balance we are far stronger than we were 2 years ago. The journal especially has grown substantively by all parameters—quantity and quality of submissions, readership, global reach, and ever more comprehensive subject matter—reflecting and keeping pace with the ever changing landscape of preparedness and response. We now need to equal this growth and impact on the society side and we will be making more extensive efforts to achieve just that.
In closing, I would like to point out 2 things that would greatly enhance our ability to grow our society. First, if you are not a member, please join and help to recruit at least 2 additional members. Second, take a more active part in society work. We will be appointing several committees on such endeavors as membership, bylaws, fund-raising, education and training, nominations, and policy. Please consider stepping forward and doing your part to make us all stronger on September 11, 2021. I would like to reflect on how we achieved interdisciplinary integration through the combined efforts and commitment of SDMPH members.
A logotype collection of social media brands printed on paper. Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Google Plus, Instagram, Skype, Pinterest and other. Photo credit: iStock.
Zika and other health scares. Photo credit: iStock.
